


What We Lost

by frominsideacomputer



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Dating, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, I haven't written in a long time, I'm trying to forget about the trashcan fire that was the finale, Set post 4:22, because i'm desperate for a crossover, centipede - Freeform, maybe some smut, ralph dineen - Freeform, scorpion, teenage ralph is gonna be a complete sass master, there's a bit of criminal minds, what a lil babbe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-06-07 11:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15217865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frominsideacomputer/pseuds/frominsideacomputer
Summary: Set post 4:22, Walter and Paige (inevitably) get back together, but not without issues. Scorpion becomes something different by the end, but the first chapter sets the scene for the work





	1. To begin...

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in years and it's for a new fandom so I'm not sure how it'll turn out but I hope it's good

A nearly a year has passed since the catastrophic fallout at Scorpion, with Sly, Toby, Happy, and, of course, Paige leaving to form Centipede.   
Walter, Cabe, and Florence are still working at Scorpion, but things aren’t as they were. Cade, as much as he hates it, struggles out in the field for long periods of time. He’s been promoted to a position which keeps him more at a desk than anything, but he helps where he can. Florence has just received a research grant from MIT and has been spending most months of the year in Boston, she’s also had a girlfriend for the last 7 months and there’s even talk of them moving in together.   
Walter is still taking on jobs, nowhere near as major or in the big leagues which the old Scorpion were so often summoned to. But he’s also got some regular clients now, and he’s been commissioned by the city to upgrade network connections. A menial and boring job, but the pay is good. He’s still working out of the garage, eating fermented fish and constantly keeping busy, even taking up a guest lecturer position at CalTech, thankfully not Ralph’s class. He even flew back to Ireland to see his parents and try to rebuild a relationship with his parents; it was about 60% successful. 

Centipede is growing, but it’s taken a recent dip in income, as the novelty has worn off for many. But, they have a whole building to themselves, state of the art facilities and offices. They’re taking on interns and hiring assistants to keep up with the workload. Paige works out of a 6th floor corner office with a panoramic view over LA, something she’d only ever dreamed of. She is receiving calls from multiple government agencies as well as huge corporations.   
Sly is the head of the tech department: writing code for them or for their clients. He’s ended his political career, but often offers legal advice, given his success at Cabe’s trial. He’s also helped to expand Warlock’s Chest, it’s become a popular tourist spot with many stars doing book signings and photo ops there.   
Happy has an entire basement level to herself - it’s too noisy anywhere else. She’s begun to teach twice a week, an all-female class to encourage getting girls into engineering because “they’re just better at it than the boys”.  
Toby is mostly doing consultation work over the phone because he’s too busy being a stay-at-Home Dad to Max and Ella, twins they adopted a couple of months ago. Ralph baby-sits regularly and Paige is always offering parenting advice, mostly to Toby who is trying very hard not to give them lasting psychological trauma. 

Although their situations have changed dramatically and their lives don’t feature hallucinations, imminent drowning or the risk of nuclear fallout anymore, they are all content and doing what they’re doing what they’re best at. 

Until now.


	2. Mistakes to be corrected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walter gets a new job, Ralph is continually impressing people, Paige is wine drunk, Kovelsky's is brought

**_Thursday Morning 11:37_ **

“Mr O’Brien? This is Dr Spencer Reid from the Department of Physics at CalTech, I’m calling to ask whether you would like to lecture for us on a weekly basis? You’ve improved interest in the Computer Science department tenfold and we were hoping you would be able to do the same for us? Please give me a call back soon and we can discuss this further. Many thanks.”

BEEP.

The noise of the answer machine rang throughout the garage, waking up Walter from the nap he’d accidentally begun at his desk. He sat up, a piece of paper was stuck to his cheek where he’d dozed off. Peeling it off and yawning loudly, he checked replayed the message from Dr Reid. It sounded like a good offer, and Walter knew that the extra money would mean rent wasn’t so tight when jobs weren’t coming in. But he also knew someone who he’d be potentially teaching. Ralph Dineen was now doing advanced quantum physics there and given his 197 IQ, Walter had correctly assumed this was the class he was going to teach. Making a mental note to consider this offer in more depth, he got up from his desk and went to have a shower.

By the time he had changed, it was just after midday and he left the garage to get lunch from Kovelsky’s. Although he didn’t like to admit it, he had gained a new appreciation for music since attempting to write that song for Paige, and he stood in the queue with headphones in. The cafe was busy with everyone from builders on their lunch breaks to a mother and baby group. Walter always thought that the builders were being inefficient by not ordering to the worksite, so they didn’t waste time working; and that the mothers were spreading hundreds of bacteria and were not exposing their children to the more important aspects of the world by chatting in a cafe.

Eventually he was served and as he walked out, distracted by a new email from Richard Elia, he walked directly into a pram.  
“Argh!” He cried out, hitting his leg on a metal bar.  
“Watch where you’re going!” A male voice retorted. “Walter?”  
He looked up, he recognised that hat straight away. “Toby? What are you doing here?” Neither Toby and Happy’s house, or the Centipede offices were near Kovelsky’s - 3.4 miles and 4.2 miles, respectively.  
“It’d be detrimental to the twin’s early development if they stay within the same neighbourhood so I’m taking them to other areas of the city.”  
“And you decided to come to Kovelsky’s because it’s an interesting part of town and you were going to show them where you used to work and got married?” Walter replied, hope filling his voice.  
Toby paused awkwardly, “Actually this is the only place in the city where parking is cheap and they still do free sachets of honey here.”  
“Can’t you afford to buy honey now? Aren’t you making thousands at Centipede?” Walter retorted.  
“Um… Yeah I guess, I just have my hands full with these two.” Toby gestured to the twins, avoiding eye contact with Walter.  
“Oh right. Bye Toby.” Walter realised he’d become one of those people in cafes who spent unnecessary amounts of time talking and he had to get back to work.  
“See you one-nine-seven.”

 

Once Walter was out of Kovelsky’s, he breathed a huge sigh. He wasn’t sure what it was about, but he felt strange after seeing Toby for the first time in months. For someone with a poor EQ, he was surprised upon thinking back to the conversation that he’d sensed Toby was withholding information when he commented on Centipede’s finances. He made a mental note to do some snooping later. He returned to the garage and called Dr Reid back, deciding that he could be mature and he could teach even if Ralph was in the class. He needed the money after all.

“Thank you so much for this Mr. O’Brien,” Dr Reid said down the phone. “Would you be able to come in tomorrow at 10:30? We can talk about your contract, but there is also a showcase of recent Student work so it would be a good chance for you to get to know the faculty and student body.”  
“I will see you tomorrow, I hope to have a productive day.” Walter hung up and leant back in his chair, thinking about his brief interaction with Toby.

 

Although Paige had made a lot of progress with him, Walter still struggled to understand some interactions, particularly the more negative ones. He could sense that there was tension between Toby and him, which he did understand, given the circumstances of Centipede’s creation. But there was another emotion which he had picked up on, like how radar picks up an object but it takes time to work out what it is. He didn’t know what it was, but it felt like regret or a longing for something. Walter put it at the back of his mind and got back to work, planning some of his lectures for CalTech, working on new coding for the security at LAPD and finishing the paperwork he’d fallen asleep the previous night. 

The evening dragged on and night fell, the neon lights of the garage grew brighter and Walter decided to go to bed, knowing he had a long commute to his interview in the morning. As he fell asleep, he thought about Toby. The way he was so quiet when he talked about Centipede’s pay made Walter think about how he used to avoid eye contact when he was uncomfortable with Paige talking about Tim. Walter got up and grabbed his laptop, hacking into their financial records (“Sly’s security is still weak”). His eyes scanned the page, and he noticed that they’d been losing money for the last two months. Based on the numbers, he realised that Centipede weren’t making enough money to cover all the bills for the building as well as all their wages. Walter scoffed “Should’ve made it self-sufficient.” He knew Happy had the capability to do that, as the garage was about 80% self-sufficient and that was entirely thanks to the world’s best engineer. It took Walter less than a minute to figure out what the exact problem was. They were spending too much money on interns and assistants to be able to afford the extreme energy output or the equipment they “needed otherwise they wouldn’t be able to save the world” (Toby’s words).

 Walter closed this laptop and went back to bed, falling asleep smug that Centipede was struggling.

 

**_Friday Morning 10:01_ **

“Dr Reid?” Walter knocked on a brown office door.  
“Come in.”  
“Hi, it’s Walter O’Brien, we had a meeting?” Walter opened the door to see a skinny guy, who was significantly younger than him sat behind a desk, surrounded by books and files.  
“Hi Mr. O’Brien, I’m Dr Reid. Please have a seat.”  
“Doctor huh? No offense but you look like you just graduated?” Walter said, his IQ overpowering his EQ.  
“Actually, I have three doctorates: chemistry, physics and maths, but I’ll forgive you.” He replied, and his reply put Walter at ease.  
“So, you called about lecturing?”  
“Yes, so you’ve made the Computer Science Department infinitely more popular-  
Walter couldn’t help himself interrupt “Actually it’s impossible for something to be infinitely more popular because that would result in a-”  
“-an exponential increase in students, which would be impossible.’ Dr Reid finished, smiling a little.  
“Sorry, I realise that was rude of me to interrupt you.” Walter had realised that this interview was not the time for him to be cocky.  
“Don’t worry, anyway, we’d really like it if you could come and lecture for us once a week, when you want and it can be about anything you want, but you’d have to let us know in advance. What do you think?”  
“The job sounds good, but if you know about Scorpion, you’ll know that I will sometimes be stuck on a case for Homeland or someone else and will not be available all the time.”  
“Of course, we understand, and we can always find someone to cover your lectures, like CompSci have done.”  
“Oh, that is good, I am sure that this will be a good opportunity for me to share my knowledge, and for your students to learn a lot from me.”  
“Well, I’m glad you’re accepting the position. Like I said on the phone, we have a student project showcase on campus now, so feel free have a wander around and get to know your prodigies.” Dr Reid stood up and showed Walter to the door. “  
“Thank you Dr Reid-”  
“Please, call me Spencer.”  
“Thank you Spencer, where is the student showcase?” Walter wanted to see what kind of intelligence he would be dealing with.  
“Turn left at the end of this corridor, down the stairs, and follow the signs to the Exhibition Centre. We’ll email you over a teaching timetable soon.”  
“Good, I look forward to hearing from you.” 

Walter made his way to the Exhibition Centre, and he was pleasantly surprised with some of the projects the students had made, even if they were what he could have done in primary school. As he walked around the hall, he noticed a large group of people stood around one display in the corner.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said a voice into a microphone. He recognised it, but he couldn’t tell where from. “I’d like to present the Ralph Dineen Everlasting Battery. Runs on a magnetic circuit and will never die on you.” He’d forgotten that Ralph would be there, which meant that it was more than likely he’d bump into-

“Walter?”

He spun around to see Paige, Happy, Sly, and Toby (with Max and Ella).  
“What are you doing here?” Paige asked, her voice loaded with concern and anger.  
He froze, he didn’t know how to react. This was the first time he’d seen her in 10 months and 5 days, first time he’d seen any of them, apart from Toby that morning.  
“Walter?” Paige repeated, angrier this time.  
“Oh, the university has offered me a part-time lecturing job here.”  
“Oh okay, how are you?”

Walter didn’t know how to answer, if he was honest he’d have to tell her that he was taking any job to afford food, or that he had actually been feeling a bit lonely in the garage without Florence and Cabe. “I am okay, keeping busy with work and research. How are you?”  
“Good, just here to support Ralph, everyone in his class loves him.” Paige looked around. “Is Florence here?”  
“No she’s spending most of her time in Boston at MIT,” Walter replied. “Sly, Happy, Toby, good to see you.”  
“Yeah whatever.” Happy mumbled, Sly and Toby just nodded.  
“I should probably go, I don’t want to keep the great Team Centipede from their busy schedule.” Walter may not have been good at positive emotions, but his passive-aggressiveness was second to none.  
“Scorpion are probably equally busy,” She threw the passive-aggressiveness back in his face. “Given that their leader has time to wander round a student showcase and take teaching jobs.”  
“Well, I’ll see you around.” Walter turned to leave when Ralph appeared next to him.

“Mom! What did you think of the presentation?” Ralph’s voice had broken and he was nearly as tall as Walter.  
"Sweetheart it was brilliant, I’m sure you’ll get first prize!”  
“You know they probably won’t give it to me for the 5th time, the other kids have to have a chance.” He rolled his eyes and suddenly realised Walter was stood there. “Walter?”  
“Hey Ralph, good to see you. Have a good day everyone.” Walter left and didn’t look back to the group.

 

Once he was outside in the quad, he realised how much seeing Paige had hurt him, how much seeing the entire team had hurt him. They’d all changed. Although he’d seen Toby in Kovelsky’s, seeing him with Happy, with his family, was different. Sly hadn’t changed that much, except he seemed to be quieter, usually he’d always try to fill a silence, but Walter guessed that there was still a lot of resentment felt towards him. And then there was Paige. She looked more professional, like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. There were no traces of the mess and chaos of the garage, her life had become glass offices and business meetings. But it was Ralph who’d changed the most. A teenager now, grown up and hormonal. He was becoming a man, so much more mature from when Walter had first met him in that diner, playing chess with salt shakers. He was confident and would have a more normal childhood to the one Walter had, even if he was the youngest CalTech graduate ever.

And Walter realised that he missed them. Not like he missed Megan, but he missed them because he knew that he was largely to blame for their leaving. After Florence had left for Boston, it had finally hit him that he should never have jeopardised his relationship with Paige because he barely felt her absence, he didn’t miss her in the way he missed Paige. He missed Florence’s chemistry genius, her problem solving, he missed her in his head, but he missed Paige in his heart. He missed the support he gave him, he missed cuddles in bed, he missed hearing her voice over the comms, and he just missed having her and Ralph around the garage. As he sat on a bench outside, watching the students socialise, he thought about all the old jobs and cases they used to work as a team. From the helicopter crash in the forest fire, to blowing up a nuclear missile in Kazakhstan, and saving Owen from a rock slide to the time their IQs dropped in the particle accelerator. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice someone join him on the bench.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Walter was thrown out of his daydream. “Huh?” He turned to see Paige sat next to him, cup of coffee in hand.  
“You seem lost in thought? Thinking of a new way to save the world?”  
He was surprised to find that she was happy to talk to him, “No, just thinking about all the times we did actually save the world.”  
“Oh yeah, remember when you got blasted into space?”  
“How could I forget?” Walter chuckled. “Remember when we got stuck out in the middle of the ocean and were attacked by sharks?”  
“Or when me and Happy were stuck in a ski lift forty feet above the ground?”  
“There was that time when we stopped the dam bursting at Christmas?”  
“Or when we were stranded on a desert island for like two months?” Paige realised that the memory of the island brought back all the memories of their relationship, which in turn made them both remember how everything fell apart. Silence fell between them and Walter twiddled his thumbs at the awkwardness of the moment.

“So…Florence? She’s in Boston now?” Paige asked, trying to change the subject.  
“Yeah, um, MIT are funding her research so she’s moved there now, and I believe that that she has a girlfriend.”  
Paige almost choked on her drink, “ _Girlfriend?_ ”  
“Yes, it seems she favours the fairer sex.” Walter replied, he had to admit that he had been somewhat surprised when Florence had first introduced Elle.  
“Well, that’s certainly interesting, does that mean it’s just you and Cabe at Scorpion now?”  
“Well, actually Cabe has been doing more work for Homeland and spending more time at the office.”  
“Oh, okay,” Paige paused nervously. “So, there’s not much left of Scorpion now?” Walter could tell that she seemed almost proud that Centipede seemed to be doing better.  
“I’ve decided to branch out into lecturing, it’s actually very rewarding.”  
“I’m sure it is, well I have to go, I have a presentation with the DoJ on Monday and have to prepare for it.”  
“I’ve done a couple of presentations to them, I could come over and help you if you want.” Walter blurted out, he didn’t know what had come over him.  
“Um, okay? My apartment at 7?”  
“Okay, I’ll bring Kovelsky’s.”  
“Sounds like a plan. See you later.” Paige left, and Walter was left alone on the bench, trying to comprehend his decision to ask Paige if she wanted any help. 

**_Friday Evening 19:05_ **

Paige was pacing around her apartment, stressing about Walter coming over. She realised that she shouldn’t be so tense about it, they hadn’t seen each other in months and he was just coming over to help.  
“Mom? I’m going to Patty’s!” Ralph interrupted her pacing.  
“Oh, right yeah sure,” She mumbled, still distracted.    
“Walter’s here?!” Ralph called from the front door, sounding confused.  
“Let him in!” 

“Hi.”  
“Hi, so I brought a burger from Kovelsky’s, extra ketchup for you, and fermented fish for me.” Walter felt awkward being in her apartment, the last time he had been there it had been on _much_ better terms.  
“So, um, the DoJ wanted a new type of electronic lock for transport vans, one which can’t be hacked and Happy thinks she’s come up with a solution for it, but they’re seeing multiple products so I have to sell it to them.” They went and sat down on Paige’s couch, where the coffee table and floor were covered in printed out power-points and note cards with statistics on them.

“Before we get started, I’m going to get a glass of wine, do you want anything to drink? I know you won’t have the wine.”  
“Actually, I’ve started to drink alcohol in moderation as I’ve found it helps me to relax and I often get a better nights sleep, though I am making sure I don’t drink too much.” Walter’s reply surprised Paige, but she got him a glass nonetheless.

“So, do you understand how the locks work?” Walter asked, his eyes scanning the schematics, immediately seeing Happy's genius at work.  
“Kinda, but can you try to explain it to me?” Paige shifted a little closer to Walter on the couch, it was an old habit which she thought she’d have kicked but it seemed going cold turkey had not worked.  
“So, it works like this…” Walter began to explain, looking into Paige’s eyes but pulling away quickly before he did something he regretted. 

The evening dragged on, the food containers lay empty on the floor, as did the wine bottle. Walter explained the science of the device to Paige, as she listened and turned his words into something which the Department of Justice could digest.

Paige stood up, “I’ll get another bottle of wine, if that’s okay with you?” Walter felt content being with Paige and he didn’t really want to leave. “Yes, that’ll be okay.” Paige came back with another bottle and sat down on couch, practically on Walter’s lap.

“Oh…um…sorry…” She mumbled, embarrassed and blushing heavily.  
“Don’t worry.” Walter mumbled, trying to pretend that he didn’t enough the familiar warmth of Paige’s body.  
She poured two glasses of wine, “So, can we just go over this one more time? I just want to make sure I understand all I can.”  
“Yeah of course, let’s see,” Walter picked up the paper and began explaining it once more to Paige. “So, the lock works on an independent electronic circuit, with no WIFI or signal so it can’t be hacked open by someone like me.”

It might have been the wine, or just the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in so long, but the conversation drifted away from work and onto more personal matters: like the fact that Cabe and Allie had adopted two teenagers, the older of whom was going to be joining the FBI academy in September; or that Patty was well on her way to becoming the youngest intern at the Los Angeles Times.

“...but with a mother like you, Ralph is going to end up just fine.” Walter finished his sentence and found himself staring deeply into Paige’s dreamy eyes.

They both fell silent; the repetitive ticking of the clock and the sounds of traffic were all they could hear. Walter’s heart was pounding in his chest and Paige could feel butterflies in her stomach.

“Kiss me Walter.” She whispered and it wasn’t even a second before his lips were on hers. It was so natural and unforced, it was like clockwork and the months apart didn’t seem to matter.

Walter’s hand moved gently onto Paige’s waist and he pulled her around so she was straddling him. As she kisses him, her hands gently held his face, she could feel a little stubble beneath her palms but she was used to it, it was familiar. Just as her hands began to unbutton his shirt, Walter stopped. “Are we really going to do this?”  
“Shut up and we can deal with the consequences in the morning.” Her hands hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt, as he pulled the zipper on the back of her blouse and she pulled it over her head.

“Bedroom?” She whispered in his ear, he answered by taking her hand and pulling her up. Before they even reached her bedroom, Walter’s shirt fell to the floor, along with all caution or foresight for what this might mean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeet


	3. Tables and Chairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm never going to finish this

Saturday Morning 9:12  
Walter woke the next morning to the sun shining gently through Paige’s blinds. The sheets were crumpled around him, but he was alone in her bed. As his memories of the previous night came back to him, he felt more and more confused, about what this would mean for them and for Scorpion/Centipede.  
He got out of bed and pulled his boxers on, there was a slight breeze coming from under her bedroom door and he knew this meant she was on the balcony. 

He stepped out onto the sun-warmed floor, Paige was sitting in one of the chairs wearing an oversized hoodie which Walter had always thought inefficient but it looked cute.  
“Hi.”  
“Hi.” She didn’t turn to look at him, instead she stared out over West Altadenia.  
Walter had never felt more confused about anything, and he thought he had a good grasp of his EQ now. On the one hand, he was overjoyed to have spent the night with Paige, but on the other, he was scared about how they’d move on from this.  
After another minute or two of silence, he couldn’t deal with it any longer. “I’m going to go home now, I hope the presentation goes well.” His tone of voice was snappy and short, he wished she would say something. 

“Walter wait, can we talk about this?”  
Her voice stopped his as he began to put his shirt back on. He stepped back onto the balcony and sat down opposite her.  
“What does this mean Paige? Because I’m so confused right now.”  
“I’m not sure if I’ve forgiven you for what you did, but I’m not sure cutting you out of my life was the right option either. I’ve missed you,” She turned to face him and placed her hand on his on the table. “And I want you back, but at the same time, I don’t want to screw this up.”  
“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”  
“I’m saying that last night was not the wrong thing to do but I don’t know if we can go back to how we were a year ago. Things have changed.”  
“So, you’re saying that there is a possibility that we can be a couple again, but we have to adjust for new variables.” When Walter spelled it out like it was an experiment, he understood it better.  
Paige smiled softly, ‘not everything has changed then’ she thought. “If we are going to do this, I don’t want to tell anyone until we’re sure about it. I really don’t want to mess this up again.” Paige squeezed his hand gently.  
“Whatever you want my little arrhythmia.” Walter replied, smirking at the embarrassing nickname he had called Paige once.  
She laughed softly, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” But in her heart, she knew that it was the right thing to do.  
“I’m going to go home, maybe we can have dinner this week? You can tell me how the DoJ pitch goes.” Walter got dressed and picked up all his stuff.  
“Call me.”  
Just as Walter got to the front door, it was opened by Ralph. “Mom! I’m hom—oly crap!” Walter froze in front of the teen, completely speechless.  
“Language!”  
“I think it is time for me to leave now.” Walter hurried out the front door, leaving Ralph still in a state of shock.  
“You can’t tell anyone, we’re still figuring everything out.”  
“Okaaaay, but you know how quickly gossip spreads…” Ralph wandered off into his room, leaving Paige coming to a sense of realization that despite all their best efforts, secrets never stayed hidden for long. 

 

Wednesday Evening 18:47pm  
Walter was sitting outside Paige’s apartment in his car, stressed about his first date with Paige in nearly a year. He understood that things wouldn’t be the same as before, but he didn’t know how different it would all be. So many things had changed, so many things had gone wrong, and so many things had been said which neither of them could take back.  
Walter’s phoned vibrated with a text from Paige: ‘Walter I know you’re sat outside just come up”

She opened the door with a towel wrapped around her head, and let him in.  
“How was the DoJ presentation?” Walter sat down on her couch while Paige finished her make-up and curled her hair.  
“We got the commission for the new locks which will massively boost Centipede’s profits.”  
“Surely you’re making enough money even without that commission?” Walter knew that they were not doing so well, but he wasn’t going to act superior, given the state of Scorpion’s finances.  
“Yeah, we’ve hit a bit of a low recently, it’s been a slow couple of months. But you probably knew that...?”  
Walter didn’t want to start this relationship on a lie “I saw Toby in Kovelsky’s and I got the sense that something was wrong, so I hacked into your financial records.”  
“How? Sly did the encryption, it was supposed to be unbreakable.” Paige sighed, it was frustrating to know that Walter knew about their financial problems.  
“Sly’s encryptions always have a weakness in the code, not hard to crack.”  
“Oh, Toby didn’t say anything about seeing you.”  
“He was with Max and Ella, showing them around other parts of the city, good for emotional development or something. It’s not a big deal.”  
Paige emerged from her room, “Ready to go?”  
Walter checked his watch 19:01 “Seven-ish?”  
“Told you.” Paige smiled and kissed him softly on the forehead. 

They arrived at Delrio’s twenty minutes later and were shown to their table.  
“You know-” Walter started as they sat down.  
“If you say anything about the position of this table in terms of efficiency, you’re never going to see me naked again.” Paige replied and Walter hastily shut up. 

They perused the menus, Paige ordered ravioli, and Walter ordered a fish risotto.  
“I never thought I’d see you eat anything other than fermented fish.” Paige noticed, aware that Walter had taken a while to choose his food.  
“You once told me that sometimes I had to do things out of my comfort zone in relationships.”  
“You seem to have evolved more in the last few months without me than before.” Her tone was solemn, bordering on regretful.  
“I didn’t think I would ever meet someone like you again, so I have tried to evolve and I have even tried to have some time to relax. It was a diff-”  
“Walter shut up.” Paige’s eyes widened and she cut him off abruptly.  
He was confused, he thought that he was saying the right things. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”  
“No, it’s not that,” She looked concerned and was staring at the door to the restaurant. “Toby and Happy just arrived.”  
“Oh crap, do you want to leave?” Walter looked up to see the familiar brim of Toby’s hat across the room.  
“No, they haven’t seen us yet, I’m sure they won’t see us, there are a lot of people in here.”  
“Toby does have a habit of profiling everyone in restaurants.” Walter would have been more comfortable if they could go home, but Paige seemed certain that it would be okay.  
“You might just have to dive under the table cloth if they see me.” She laughed but it set Walter’s heart racing.

They received their food and they had both cleared their plated without a run in with Happy or Toby; Walter and Paige could see Toby and Happy from their table, but their eyeline faced the opposite direction. However, they had figured out that if either of their friends had to go to the bathroom, they would be seen straight away.  
“This has been really, really nice Walter,” Paige looked deeply into his eyes, “I’m glad we’re doing this again.”  
“Crap!” Walter exclaimed, and Paige looked startled.  
“What? What is it?”  
“Toby’s just stood up and his on his way to the bathroom, he is definitely going to see us.”  
“What do we do? I don’t mind Ralph knowing but not the others, not just yet.”  
They both looked around frantically for something, but it dawned on both of them that the only option was what Paige had joked about earlier.  
“Go on then.” Paige gestured to the table.  
“Why me?”  
“Because you can’t lie to Toby for shit and he’ll smell a rat if you’re on a date.”  
Walter scowled but hurriedly crawled under the table, muttering about it wasn’t worth sitting on a restaurant floor 

Walter heard the next few minutes of conversation muffled through the tablecloth.  
“Paige? Is that you?”  
“Toby?! Hi!”  
“What are you doing here?”  
“Just dinner with an old friend. What about you?”  
“Sly’s babysitting so we’re having our first night off in months. But you’re not telling me something…? What is it? We’re good friends right, you can trust me.”  
“The last time I saw this friend it wasn’t on the best of terms…”  
“Huh, if you say so. Speaking of, what was it like seeing Walt the other day? Awkward huh?”  
“Yeah I guess, haven’t really thought about it.”  
“Are you kidding? If it were me I would have bitch slapped him so hard for turning up like that, I bet he knew Ralph would be presenting and he wanted to ruin the show for him.”

As Walter heard Toby speak, it dawned on him that that was the opinion most of his old friends had of him, of his selfishness, his ignorance to the consequences of his actions, and a superiority complex. But what Paige replied with lifted his spirits.  
“I don’t think he meant anything by it, the teaching job was genuine and I think he was just as surprised to see us. He’s made mistakes, but I hope these last few months have genuinely changed him for the better.”  
“You sound like you’re still in love with him. I saw him in Kovelsky’s the other day, he seemed like normal Walter, but you might be right. Doesn’t matter anyway, it’s not like we’re going to see him again. Anyway, your friend has been gone a while, sure you’re not just eating alone and are too embarrassed to say?”  
“She was having some work problems and had to take a call outside. Don’t you profile me.”  
“If you say so, anyway I should get back to my lovely wife before she builds a car engine out of cutlery. See you Paige.”  
“Bye Toby.” 

Paige kicked Walter under the table, “Okay he’s gone.” Walter emerged, his hair ruffled and his face was scrunched in annoyance.  
“You’re hiding under the table next time.”  
“Sorry, I’ll make it up to you later.” She playfully smiled at him, but his reaction told her something was wrong.  
“Did you really mean what you said to Toby? I hope you weren’t just saying that because I was here.”  
“No, it was the truth. I can’t forget what you did, but I hope you understand why it was wrong and why it hurt me. I want to believe that you have changed for the better.”  
“I think I have, but I don’t really have anyone to tell me anymore.” Walter didn’t like being in the garage alone, he’d gotten so used to having people around that the silence was strange.  
“If we do this right, take it slowly, I think it’ll all be okay.” Walter was reassured. They paid for dinner and left quickly, avoiding Toby and Happy. 

Just as they got outside, Paige starting laughing gently to herself.  
“What’s so funny?” Walter asked, rummaging around for his car keys.  
“I just remembered that time when I took you to that ‘sensory experience’ restaurant and we got mayonnaise everywhere!” She laughed, and Walter joined in. He pulled her in for a kiss, his hand holding her waist and arms lay around his neck. “Garage?” She whispered between kisses.  
“Garage.” He replied but continued to kiss her, underneath the neon sign which cast a warm glow on her face. 

“Paige?!” Happy’s voice cut through them and they pulled apart, hearts racing.  
“O’BRIEN?!” Both Toby and Happy yelled.  
“Crap.” Paige and Walter whispered, avoiding eye contact with the others.  
“An old friend? Not on the best of terms? You’re good Dineen, I’ll give you that.” Toby huffed.  
Happy was looking annoyed and suspicious. “So, you’re back together now? How long have you been hiding this from us?”  
“Not long at all, we thought that it would be easier to work things out on our own before we told all of you.” Walter felt Paige squeeze his hand, it reassured him but he was still nervous about the other finding out.  
“What does this mean for Centipede? For Scorpion?” Happy looked worried, perhaps it was because she was so used to her life being pulled from under her just when she’s settled.  
Walter was about to respond, but Paige got there first. “We don’t know yet, we still have a lot to work out.”  
“Hmmmm, does Ralph know?” Toby asked.  
“Yes, he does. Sly and Cabe do not.’ Said Walter.  
Happy and Toby looked nervously at each other. “What’s the deal with Florence then? Long distance not work out?”  
“We were, um, never together.” Walter mumbled. “And she’s got her own relationship in Boston now. She seems to be happier there.”  
“Aaaaaaaanyway, we should be going.” Paige changed the subject and Walter felt her tug on his hand.  
“This has been an enlightening evening,” Toby said and they all turned to leave. “Wait, when I was talking to Paige, where were you Walter?”  
“Under the table.”  
“If a woman can get Walter O’Brien, IQ of 197, hiding under a table for her, she must be pretty special.”


End file.
